Local Studies Department

Kildare v Dublin, Leinster Senior Football Final, July 22, 1928

(Dedicated to the Kildare Football Team, as a tribute to their glorious victory and their clean play on Sunday last).
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BY "AN OFFALY MAN WITH A KILDARE HEART".
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They are singing the tidings in Naas and Athy,
In Maynooth, Castledermot, Rathangan and Clane:
In the mid-summer breeze that goes laughily by
You can hear everywhere the same joyous refrain-
Oh how Gannon, Walsh, Buckley, Fitzpatrick and Goff,
The two Loughlins, Paul Doyle, Paddy Martin and Keogh,
Mangan, Curtis, Malone, Hayes and Higgins went off
And brought back, with fresh honours, our Flag white as snow !

In Croke Park, Dublin fielded its doughtiest men,
And its legions poured forth from Street, Alley and Square
To behold Dublin's team sweeping back to the glen,
In defeat and disaster, the boys of Kildare.
What the picked men of Kerry had failed to achieve,
'Twas their task to fulfil ere the sun had gone down-
Pluck the bays from the brows of the All Whites and weave,
With the trophy and honours, a Dubliner's crown !

The whistle has sounded, the conflict begun;
Grim, steady and stalwart, the warriors meet:
'Tis no joyous parade 'neath a mid-summer sun,
Nor a haphazard meeting of friends on the street.
'Tis a conflict of giants, a Homeric test,
A clash between foemen who battle anew;
And before the last flicker of light in the West
Either flag must be lowered-the White or the Blue.

Grim and mighty the struggle. The White surges on
Like the waves of the ocean resistless and strong,
And the banner of Blue for the moment is gone
In the dust of the fray as Kildare sweeps along !
Were there ever such men as these men of the hills?-
With a laugh on their lips whilst the rapiers play !
With a smile in their eyes like a gleam on the rills,
Whilst the tocsin of battle rings over the fray !

When their foemen, defeated, forgot what was due
To the honour of Erin, Kildare stood the test,
And to-day the dark stain on the banner of Blue
Shows more clearly the White of its conqueror's crest !
For the White is unsullied, and victory glows
On a standard that never yet lowered its folds
In disgrace or dishonour in friends or to foes;
And, thank God ! still more proudly its purity holds !

So, no wonder we're singing in Naas and Athy,
In Maynooth, Castledermot, Rathangan and Clane,
To the mid-summer breeze that flows laughingly by,
The tidings that lilt through our joyous refrain-
Of how Gannon, Walsh, Buckley, Fitzpatrick and Goff,
The two Loughlins, Paul Doyle, Paddy Martin and Keogh,
Mangan, Curtis, Malone, Hayes and Higgins went off
And brought back with fresh honours our Flag white as snow.